Ladd Keith

Ladd Keith, Ph.D. is an interdisciplinary researcher working at the intersection of urban planning and climate change to create more sustainable and resilient cities. He has over a decade of experience working with diverse stakeholders to solve complex urban challenges in cities across the U.S. His current research explores urban heat governance and how cities can mitigate and manage heat to increase heat resilience. He also founded and leads the Sustainable Built Environments degree program which is offered in-person, fully online, and at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas in Lima, Peru.

Keith served a full eight-year term on the City of Tucson Planning Commission and was chair during the creation and adoption of the General & Sustainability Plan. He is an active member of the American Planning Association and serves as an academic liaison for the Arizona Chapter. He is also an active member of the Urban Land Institute and has served on the Sustainable Development Council, was a founding advisory board member of the Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance, has chaired several Advisory Service Panels, and was recognized as one of ULI's 40 under 40.

Selected Interviews and Media

• The Globe and Mail, Extreme, deadly heat in Canada is going to come back, and worse. Will we be ready?, September 25, 2021
• America Adapts: The Climate Change Podcast, Extreme Heat in the News, Naming Heat Waves, Thermal Equity and more with Dr. Ladd Keith, July 5, 2021
• UA News, Keeping Homes and Cities Cool in Extreme Heat, June 23, 2021
• The Washington Post, Heat and smog hit low-income communities and people of color hardest, scientists say, May 25, 2021
• America Adapts: The Climate Change Podcast, Fundamentals of Extreme Heat and Climate Change with Dr. Ladd Keith, January 12, 2020

Selected Peer-Reviewed Articles

• Meerow, Sara and Ladd Keith. In Print. Planning for extreme heat: A national survey of U.S. planners. Journal of the American Planning Association. Pre-print available.
• Keith, Ladd, Nicole Iroz-Elardo, Erika Austof, Ida Sami, and Mona Arora. 2021. Extreme Heat at Outdoor COVID-19 Vaccination Sites. Journal of Climate Change and Health. 4(2021), 100043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joclim.2021.100043
• Keith, Ladd, Sara Meerow, and Tess Wagner. 2020. Planning for extreme heat: A review. Journal of Extreme Events. 6(3&4), 2050003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1142/S2345737620500037
• Austhof, Erika, Vjollca Berisha, Ben McMahan, Gigi Owen, Ladd Keith, Matthew Roach, and Heidi E. Brown. 2020. Engaging public health stakeholders in climate and health adaptation. Atmosphere, 11(3), 265. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos11030265

Selected Other Publications

• Keith, Ladd, Sara Meerow, David M. Hondula, V. Kelly Turner, and James C. Arnott. 2021. Deploy heat officers, policies and metrics. Nature. 598(7879), 29-31. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02677-2
• Keith, Ladd and Andrea K. Gerlak. 2021. There's no place in the US safe from the heat. The Hill. August 20, 2021.
• Keith, Ladd and Sara Meerow. 2021. QuickNotes: Urban Heat Resilience. American Planning Association (APA), Planning Advisory Service (PAS).
• Keith, Ladd and Sara Meerow. 2021. Cities must plan for heat resilience now. Thomson Reuters Foundation. July 5, 2021.
• Shumake-Guillemot, Joy (Ed.). 2020. Protecting Health from Hot Weather during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN). (Contributing author)
• Meadow, Alison M., Sarah LeRoy, Jeremy Weiss, and Ladd Keith. 2018. Climate profile for the City of Flagstaff, Arizona. University of Arizona, Climate Assessment for the Southwest (CLIMAS).